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Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Vatican City, 17 June 2014 (VIS) – At
7 p.m. yesterday in the Paul VI Hall the Holy Father met with the
representatives of the diocese of Rome, gathered to participate in
the Diocesan Pastoral Congress on the theme “A people who raise
children. Community and family in the major stages of Christian
initiation”. During his address, Pope Francis spoke on the issue of
the “society of orphans”: of parents who do not spend enough time
playing with their children because of their long working hours, and
because of their fatigue when they arrive home that leads the young
to be deprived of time spent freely with their parents. He emphasised
that nowadays we need this sense of gratuity within the family, in
parishes, in society as a whole, and that the Lord is revealed to us
in gratuity, or rather as Grace: “But if we do not have a sense of
gratuity within the family, at school, in the parish, it will be very
difficult to understand what the grace of God is: that grace that
cannot be bought or sold, that is a gift from God, and is indeed God
Himself”. He also commented on other social aspects that contribute
to the “orphanhood” of the young: “a technological society that
multiplies to infinity the opportunities for pleasure, distraction
and curiosity, but is not able to lead man to true joy”, and added
that only by encountering Jesus can be encounter true joy and
understand that we do not lead our lives in vain, as a task has been
conferred to each one of us”.

The Holy Father went on to describe the
Church as a mother who knows how to raise her children. “The great
challenge faced by the Church is that of being a mother”, he said,
“not a well-organised NGO full of pastoral plans. … The Church
needs to rediscover her maternity. She must be a mother; maternity is
the grace that we must now ask of the Holy Spirit in order to go
ahead in our pastoral and missionary conversion. However, the Church
grows not by proselytism but by maternal attraction, through
tenderness, through the testimony of her many children”. The Pope
remarked that the Mother Church has aged somewhat, to the risk of
becoming “Grandmother Church”, and that she must therefore be
rejuvenated, “but not by taking her to a cosmetic surgeon, no! The
Church becomes younger when she is able to generate more sons; the
more children she has, the younger she becomes”.

The Pontiff added that this means
recovering the memory of the Church. In a world in which there exists
little sense of history and fear of time, a world in which the
present reigns supreme, in which language is increasingly abbreviated
and everything becomes rapid, making us slaves to our situation, we
must recover the memory of God's patience. “God is not hasty during
our history of salvation, and has accompanied us throughout history”.
The Pope therefore urged the priests and clergy present not to close
the doors of their churches, but rather to welcome all with an open
heart, as a family, asking the Lord to make them able to participate
in their difficulties and in the problems that children and the young
frequently encounter in their lives.

“People hope to find Jesus' gaze in
us, often without realising it; they seek a serene and joyful gaze
that enters the heart. But the whole parish must transform into a
welcoming place, not only the priests and catechists”. The Pope
encouraged those present to ask themselves whether their parishes
were truly welcoming, whether their celebrations were scheduled to
favour the participation of the young, if they spoke the language of
youth and if their communities kept their doors open.

Before concluding, the Pope
acknowledged that the work carried out by priests is not easy. “It
is easier to be a bishop”, he affirmed, “because we can always
maintain a distance and hide ourselves behind the title of 'Your
excellency', and defend ourselves in this way. But being a priest,
when the parishioners knock on the door, when they talk to you about
their problems … it is not easy”. He commented that the Church in
Italy is strong because of her priests, and urged them not to forget
the memory of evangelisation and always to stay close to the
faithful. “We want a Church of faith, who believes that the Lord is
able to make her a mother, to give her many children; our Holy Mother
Church”.

Vatican City, 17 June 2014 (VIS) –
This morning Pope Francis received in audience the members of the
High Council for the Italian Magistrature, to whom he expressed his
esteem for their work which “aims at the good functioning of a
sector that is vital for social coexistence”. He also apologised
for not having received them yesterday as scheduled, explaining that
“in the mid-morning I felt unwell and had a fever, so I had to
cancel all my appointments. I am sorry for this”.

The ethical aspect of the work of
magistrates was the first point in his brief address, and highlighted
that as in all countries, there are legal norms intended to protect
their freedom and independence to carry out their important and
delicate task with all the necessary guarantees … responding
adequately to the role that society has conferred upon them and
maintaining an irrefutable impartiality”.

The independence of the magistrate and
his aim, justice, “require a careful and punctual application of
the law”, he continued. “The certainty of the law and the balance
of the various powers in a democratic society are summarised in the
principle of legality, over which the magistrate presides. The judge
is responsible for decisions that affect not only the rights and
property of citizens, but which have consequences for their very
existence”.

The Pope listed some of the
intellectual, psychological and moral qualities that all
representatives of the magistrature must possess, and which offer a
guarantee of reliability, giving special emphasis to prudence, which
“is not a virtue because it means staying put: 'I'm careful, I
don't move', no! It is a virtue of governance, a virtue for moving
ahead”, a virtue that enables one “to weigh with serenity the
reason of law and fact that must be at the base of any judgement. One
is more prudent when one has a heightened inner equilibrium, and is
able to control the impulses of one's own character, one's own
personal views, one's own ideological standpoints”.

“Italian society expects much of the
magistrature”, he remarked, “especially in the current context
characterised by the progressive erosion of our heritage of values
and the evolution of democratic structures”. He urged the
magistrates not to let down the legitimate expectations of the
people, and always to make efforts to be “an example of moral
integrity for all of society”.

Finally, he recalled some illustrious
magistrates, such as Vittorio Bachelet, who led the High Council of
the Magistrature through times of great difficulty, and who fell
victim to terrorism during the “years of lead”, the period of
social and political unrest in Italy between the 1960s and 1980s, and
Rosario Livatino, killed by the Mafia, whose cause for beatification
has been opened. “They offered exemplary witness to the style
typical of the faithful lay Christian: loyal to institutions, open to
dialogue, and firm and courageous in their defence of justice and the
dignity of the human person”.

Vatican City, 17 June 2014 (VIS) –
This morning a press conference was held in the Holy See Press Office
to present two events organised by the “Vatican Foundation: Joseph
Ratzinger - Benedict XVI”: the 2014 Ratzinger Prize, which will be
awarded on 22 November, and the congress to be held in the Pontifical
Bolivarian University of Medellin in Colombia (23-24 October 2014).

The speakers at the conference were
Cardinal Camillo Ruini, president of the Scientific Committee of the
“Vatican Foundation: Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI”, Msgr.
Giuseppe Scotti, president of the Foundation, and German Cardona
Gutierrez, Colombia's ambassador to the Holy See. Cardinal Ruini
announced the names of the prizewinners: the French Professor
Anne-Marie Pelletier and Professor Waldemar Chrostowski. Professor
Pelletier is the first woman ever to win the Prize, and is a scholar
of hermeneutics and biblical exegesis who has also focused on the
issue of women in Christianity; Professor Chrostowski, the first ever
Polish prizewinner, is a priest, biblicist and expert on
Catholic-Jewish dialogue.

Anne-Marie Pelletier, born in 1946,
taught general linguistics and comparative literature at the
University of Paris X, then Marne-la-Vallee, as well as theology of
marriage at the Catholic Institute of Paris. She has for some years
taught sacred scriptures and biblical hermeneutics at the Notre Dame
faculty of the seminary of Paris. Since 2013 she has held the role of
professor of biblical teaching at the European Institute of Science
of Religions (IESR). Her research extends to Judaism and Christianity
at the College des Bernardins, and the monastic world. She has
published widely: notable works in the field of hermeneutics and
biblical exegesis are “Lectures du Cantique des Cantiques. De
l'enigme du sens aux figures du lecteur”, “Lectures bibliques.
Aux sources de la culture occidentale”, “D'age en age les
Ecritures. La Bible et l'hermeneutique contemporaine”, and “Le
livre d'Isaie, l'histoire au prisme de la prophetie”. With regard
to the question of women in Christianity, she has written two books:
“Le christianisme et les femmes. Vingt siecles d'histoire”, and
“Le signe de la femme”.

“Pelletier is therefore a most
distinguished figure in contemporary French Catholicism”, commented
Cardinal Ruini, “who unites deserved scientific prestige and a
great and versatile cultural liveliness with an authentic dedication
to causes of the highest importance for Christian witness in
society”.

Msgr. Waldemar Chrostowski was born in
1951 in Chrostowo, Poland. He holds a doctorate in theology and in
2013 received the title of university professor from the President of
Poland. He is the general editor of the journal “Collectanea
Theologica” and is the president of the Association of Polish
Biblicists. His scientific and didactic production is extensive and
includes his dissertation “Prophets before history. The
interpretation of the story of Israel in Ezekiel 16, 20 and 23 and
their reinterpretation in the Bible of the Seventies”, the two
volumes of “The Garden of Eden – known testimony of the Assyrian
diaspora” and “Assyrian diaspora of the Israelites”, “God,
Bible, Messiah”, and “The Church, Jews, Poland”. He teaches in
the faculty of theology of the Warsaw Academy, now Cardinal Stefan
Wyszynski University, and in various other universities and
seminaries.

“Msgr. Chrostowski is engaged in
Catholic-Jewish and Polish-Jewish dialogue and has for some time been
a member of the commission of the Polish episcopate for dialogue with
Judaism. He unites scientific rigour with passion for the Word of
God, service to the Church and engagement in interreligious
dialogue”, concluded Cardinal Ruini.

Msgr. Giuseppe Antonio Scotti went on
to present the convention “Respect for life, path for peace”,
which will take place from 23 to 24 October in the Bolivarian
University of Medellin, Colombia. The congress is the fourth since
the institution in 2010 of the “Vatican Foundation: Joseph
Ratzinger - Benedict XVI” and, like the previous ones, will count
on the participation of the universities in the host country, along
with the local Church and representatives of civil society and
politics. Since the first encounter, organinsed in Bygdoszcz, Poland,
275 universities have taken part, involving 1600 teachers and
students who have carried out projects of reflection and research
related to the theme.

“The appointment in Medellin this
October … once more emphasises that universities – the young
people and people who study, think and seek there – can and wish to
take an active and committed role in the construction of a fully
human future, aware that our times, marked by globalisation, with its
positive and negative aspects, as well as bloody conflicts and
threats of war, necessitate renewed and concerted commitment to
seeking the common good, and the development of the whole of humanity
and the whole human person”.